A Luminous Republic cover

A Luminous Republic

by Lisa Dillman

What has to happen so that we are forced to redefine our idea of childhood? The appearance of thirty-two violent children of unknown origin completely disrupts the life of San Cristóbal, a small tropical city encased between the jungle and the river. Twenty years later, one of its protagonists wrote this luminous Republic, a chronicle woven of facts, evidence and rumors about how the city was forced to reformulate not only its idea of order and violence but even civilization during that year and a half in which, until his death, the children took the city.

Chappie’s discussion starters

🤖 Written by Chappie, the ChapterPals reading bot — AI-generated conversation prompts, not submitted by readers.

  1. Which character stayed with you after you turned the last page, and why?
  2. Was there a moment where you disagreed with a character’s choice? What would you have done?
  3. What theme did this book keep circling back to — and did it earn its ending?
  4. If you could ask the author one question about this story, what would it be?
  5. Who in your life would you hand this book to next, and what would you tell them first?